The maker of the chrome zero-client device and cloud desktop software appears to have disappeared without a trace

InfoWorld|Nov 2, 2012

Pano Logic, the virtual desktop infrastructure vendor and creator of the infamous tiny chrome zero-client device, has reportedly closed its doors and shut down the business. I say "reportedly" only because there has yet to be any official statement or announcement from the company itself.

The news was originally broken on Oct. 30 by The Credit Union Times, which stated it had received its information from Pano Logic's former San Francisco-based PR firm, which said as a matter of fact: "The company has gone out of business." This news was later confirmed when InfoWorld spoke to a former Pano Logic employee who asked not to be named.

The fact that The Credit Union Times was able to get the news before anyone else may be attributed to the fact that Pano Logic has had a fair amount of sales success with credit unions. Pano Logic's website home page is still splashed with news of the company's most recent deal with the $3.1 billion Redstone Federal Credit Union in Huntsville, Ala., a deal that would have had Pano Logic replacing 80 percent of the credit union's PCs with Pano Logic systems over the next 18 months.

While the silence from Pano Logic is deafening, many people are waking up to the news and asking questions. The company's previously active social media marketing efforts suddenly went radio silent on Oct. 22. Pano Logic's final tweet was about how Redstone Federal Credit Union was going through a major transformation using Pano Logic technology. This same news was also the final word on its Facebook fan page. Then just like that, the company's social engagement ended.

But questions from customers and virtualization community members quickly began appearing across the company's social media platforms. On Twitter, people began asking if the company was still around with tweets like, "is panologic dead??" and "hello are you still with us?" These concerns for the company's well being were not necessarily the same questions being posed on Pano Logic's Facebook page, where customers were trying to find some form of communication to speak to someone in the company -- because email and phone calls were evidently going unanswered. Even if you hadn't heard the news yet, you could tell something was off by comments on Facebook, such as "What is your post-bankruptcy plan for support and parts? We have equipment that needs to be RMA." Another stated they had driven by the company's office and it was "all closed up."

It is clear that even employees were caught off guard when they were let go, and like everyone else, they still don't have all the answers. An ex-employee of the company told InfoWorld that "things had gotten crazy near the end," addubg, "It seemed as though the investors weren't happy with the process in selling the company and instead just pulled the funding."